OSCAR NIGHT AMERICA

Gold statue body painting from Oscar Night America

A BENEFIT FOR THE ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION

SHERATON DOWNTOWN PHOENIX HOTEL
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND, 2009

This was the 81st Annual Oscar Awards and the 16th year for Oscar Night® America (ONA). ONA is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' grassroots program that enables charities to host glamorous fund-raising parties in cities all across the country. Most parties are black-tie affairs, though some are less formal. Here in Phoneix, event organizers feature limousine arrivals, red carpets, local celebrities, photographers (or paparazzi) and press interviews with arriving guests.

Accordning to the Oscar Night America website, each ONA party receives from the Academy copies of the official commemorative poster and the official Oscar show program among other items, but only one charity party in a given market may participate in ONA. Events are entirely produced by local nonprofit organizations, with the active participation of the local ABC-TV affiliate station. The host for the Phoenix event is The Artheritis Foundation.

My part in this event was to paint eight male models with gold bodypaint to stand at the red carpet entrance replicating the Oscar statue. Models were provided by S.I.M. Agency, a full service fashion/film agency located in Metro Phoenix that represents models and actors for fashion, print, catalog, runway, TV, voiceover and film projects. My two faithful assistants, Courtney Black and Donna Wilson, were on-hand to help complete the task of covering the models with the gold paint from head to toe.

 

 

The following is the excerpt from the Arhtritis Foundation's website:

Hollywood’s big night of glitz and glamour came to life in the Valley at the Arthritis Foundation’s 15th annual Oscar Night® America gala, held at the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix Hotel on February 22, 2009.

Guests felt like celebrities when they walked the red carpet surrounded by paparazzi and posed for pictures with live Oscar® statues. This year’s event also featured an elegant cocktail party complete with live entertainment by Laura Fial and Friends, cigar rolling with Paula Martin, a silent auction, and sumptuous hors d’oeuvres and specialty drinks.

Party-goers then celebrated the magic of the world’s most prestigious awards ceremony as they watched the ABC15HD broadcast of 81st annual Oscars® on large projection screens throughout the ballroom. After a delicious plated dinner and desert buffet, the evening was topped off with movie-themed snacks of popcorn and candy.

The Arthritis Foundation Greater Southwest Chapter is one of the 52 charities nationwide officially sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to host this glamorous Oscar® fund-raising event. As part of this partnership, every attendee received the official 81st Annual Academy Awards® Program provided to celebrities at the Oscar® ceremony in Hollywood!

The Arthritis Foundation would like to express its sincerest thanks to all those whose support helped to make Oscar Night® America an incredible success. Over $278,000 was raised to benefit the Arthritis Foundation’s many active programs of research and patient services for the 1.3 million men, women, and children in the Greater Southwest Chapter who are affected by arthritis.

Special Thanks and Recognition

Event Chair, Deborah Bateman
Honorary Chair, Liz Kelly
Our wonderful committee & many dedicated volunteers

Presenting Sponsor
Health Net of Arizona


Premier Sponsors
National Bank of Arizona
Prisma Graphic (print sponsor)
Saks Fifth Avenue
Hollywood Sponsors
Blue Cross® Blue Shield® of Arizona
Greenberg Traurig
Jennings Strouss & Salmon
The Orthopedic Clinic Association
UCB, Inc
Wells Fargo

Film Sponsors
Arizona Spine & Joint Hospital/DePuy
British Petroleum
Kathy and Ron Brown
Centocor
Shelby Fletcher/Audrey Ozols
Humana
Mutual of Omaha Bank
Rose & Harry Papp
PhRMA
Warren C. Rizzo, M.D.
Sonora Quest Laboratories
Southwest Ambulance

Media Sponsors
ABC15HD
az Magazine / The Arizona Republic
Bonneville International

More Photos by Ben Arnold
Read more about Oscar fashions

 

 

 

 


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